Complete noob, so apologies if this is inaccurate or unintelligible :). I downloaded several versions of the minimal install iso (including the Christmas day build). I burned it to usb using dd. I then booted my Thinkpad with it and it worked fine. So, I put it in my Dell Inspiron N4110 and it refused to boot. I have booted MX Linux and FreeBSD 32 bit versions on it just fine, so it's not the drive or the system, per se. I analyzed the usb and see that it's GPT formatted, which won't work, it apparently needs to be MBR. Unetbootin will work if given an MBR formatted usb and the iso as source as it adds bootloader to the usb stick. Again, showing that the system/drive is working fine. So, I followed the wiki page for usb creation wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB I tried both manual and script based versions - basically: fdisk /dev/sdf create a new b type (W95 FAT32) partition and make it bootable sudo mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdf1 mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom mkdir -p /mnt/usb mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 /home/wsenn/Downloads/install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso /mnt/cdrom mount -t vfat /dev/sdf1 /mnt/usb cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb mv /mnt/usb/isolinux/* /mnt/usb the last step failing because there are not a isolinux directory present in the iso. The script provided at the LiveUSB page works similarly and results in the same error. I'm not sure if there's a bug in the iso, or the described process, but thought I would submit it for y'all to comment on.
(In reply to will.senn from comment #0) > > I downloaded several versions of the minimal install iso (including the > Christmas day build). I burned it to usb using dd. I then booted my Thinkpad > with it and it worked fine. So, I put it in my Dell Inspiron N4110 and it > refused to boot. I have booted MX Linux and FreeBSD 32 bit versions on it > just fine, so it's not the drive or the system, per se. Are you attempting UEFI or BIOS boot? > I analyzed the usb and see that it's GPT formatted, which won't work, it > apparently needs to be MBR. Although it's got a GPT table, it also has a protective MBR and should work transparently on MBR/BIOS only hardware. > So, I followed the wiki page for usb creation wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB > > I tried both manual and script based versions - basically: > > fdisk /dev/sdf > create a new b type (W95 FAT32) partition and make it bootable > sudo mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdf1 > mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom > mkdir -p /mnt/usb > mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 > /home/wsenn/Downloads/install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso /mnt/cdrom > mount -t vfat /dev/sdf1 /mnt/usb > cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb > mv /mnt/usb/isolinux/* /mnt/usb > > the last step failing because there are not a isolinux directory present in > the iso. The script provided at the LiveUSB page works similarly and results > in the same error. > Some time ago catalyst switched from a hand-crafted isolinux (bios) + grub (uefi) setup, to a grub-mkrescue created setup, using grub for both bios & uefi boots. So these instructions making use of isolinux/ won't work. I hope that explains some of what you're seeing, but can you tell us more about how it fails when you try on the N4110? Curious if it's BIOS, 32bit EFI, or 64bit EFI as well. And if applicable, is secureboot on or off? Thanks
(In reply to Ben Kohler from comment #1) > (In reply to will.senn from comment #0) > > > > I downloaded several versions of the minimal install iso (including the > > Christmas day build). I burned it to usb using dd. I then booted my Thinkpad > > with it and it worked fine. So, I put it in my Dell Inspiron N4110 and it > > refused to boot. I have booted MX Linux and FreeBSD 32 bit versions on it > > just fine, so it's not the drive or the system, per se. > > Are you attempting UEFI or BIOS boot? BIOS only. I don't see any EFI or Secure Boot options in the bios. > > > I analyzed the usb and see that it's GPT formatted, which won't work, it > > apparently needs to be MBR. > > Although it's got a GPT table, it also has a protective MBR and should work > transparently on MBR/BIOS only hardware. I don't have any other BIOS only machine to test on, but this doesn't appear to be working. I found the MX Linux 23-1 32 bit image and FreeBSD 13.2 32 bit images and they do boot. > > > > So, I followed the wiki page for usb creation wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/LiveUSB > > > > I tried both manual and script based versions - basically: > > > > fdisk /dev/sdf > > create a new b type (W95 FAT32) partition and make it bootable > > sudo mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sdf1 > > mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom > > mkdir -p /mnt/usb > > mount -o loop,ro -t iso9660 > > /home/wsenn/Downloads/install-x86-minimal-20231225T160203Z.iso /mnt/cdrom > > mount -t vfat /dev/sdf1 /mnt/usb > > cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /mnt/usb > > mv /mnt/usb/isolinux/* /mnt/usb > > > > the last step failing because there are not a isolinux directory present in > > the iso. The script provided at the LiveUSB page works similarly and results > > in the same error. > > > > Some time ago catalyst switched from a hand-crafted isolinux (bios) + grub > (uefi) setup, to a grub-mkrescue created setup, using grub for both bios & > uefi boots. So these instructions making use of isolinux/ won't work. Ah, that makes sense, even if I don't know what a catalyst is or a grub-mkrescue setup is. I'll figure out how to let the wiki folks know their instructions are out of date. > > I hope that explains some of what you're seeing, but can you tell us more > about how it fails when you try on the N4110? Curious if it's BIOS, 32bit > EFI, or 64bit EFI as well. And if applicable, is secureboot on or off? > It's pretty old laptop and low end, but hey what better way to try stuff out and learn something in the process.
I'm still wondering what the failure mode is-- does it say the equivalent of "no bootable media found", or does it start grub but fail to start a kernel, or does it start the kernel but fail late in boot? etc
(In reply to Ben Kohler from comment #3) > I'm still wondering what the failure mode is-- does it say the equivalent of > "no bootable media found", or does it start grub but fail to start a kernel, > or does it start the kernel but fail late in boot? etc I think the error is from the N4110, “Operating System Not Found.” Definitely not Grub.
Can you see if this is working now? We made some changes to the grub-mkrescue ISO creation
Seems to still be an issue: "Operating System Not Found" using - install-amd64-minimal-20240616T153408Z.iso
Is that with a direct dd of the iso to a usb stick, or some other method?
First, I tried with Mint's USB Image Writer, then I tried with dd, both wrote fine, and work on other systems, just not on the Inspiron (where other distros/unices work).
